Rumored Amethyst
by Supix
Summary: I was always told that I should think things through before I decide to act upon my amazing instinct. But when you have a twin with a sister complex, a younger demonic and clingy brother and memories of a time long forgotten, what else are you to do? Apparently, leaving your family and traveling across the sea is not the answer. Not to mention this stupid hair of mine.
1. Chapter 1

It is a weird feeling, opening your eyes for the very first time and feeling like you do not belong there. Being handled while different feelings of happiness, sadness, fear and regret assault your small being. All you want to do is just shut your eyes and go back to that grand slumber you had and not deal with your feelings. Denial I believe is what they call it. What else can one do but cry? Though in all honesty, crying while going through a whole rollercoaster of feelings and being handled around is not a good combination. Believe me, I know. But what does feel good, is when you are lowered into warmth as a sweet, soothing voice whispers to you in happiness. The feeling of being safe and protected. And then having that moment shattered by more screeching. But not mine, no, for I was content in the arms of this stranger. Though I would end up soon joining the beautiful song of life. Apparently, I am a twin.

* * *

My twin did not know how to shut up. He cried and cried all day. Sometimes to the point where I could no longer take it and would cry just to try to drown out his shrieks. Looking back, I am grateful mother and father did not toss us out the window. Then again, they should not have had twins. What were they thinking?

Many months passed like that. I learned that the stranger that had soothed me when I was brought to this hell hole, was actually my father. His name was Xue Xing. And his voice was soothing, but not sweet. I loved being in his arms. It was so warm and comfy. Plus it made me feel like nothing wrong would ever happen to me. Well, besides having to deal with a shrieking fox that did not know when to quit. Father had long black hair that he would wear in a side ponytail. Until he learned that I loved playing with it. He also had piercing red eyes, which I had inherited from him. He was the observing type. He usually did not talk. But his expression would be enough for us to know what he was thinking. He was caring and loving. Like a true father.

My mother on the other hand was not so silent. Xue Lan was her name. She had long brown hair that she would wear loose. Though sometimes she would have to put it in a bun when dealing with us. Her eyes were a soothing blue. She was always yelling at me. I do not understand why. I would only try to help her deal with my twin, so she could rest for a bit. How was I supposed to know that smothering him with a pillow was a big no no?

After father found out, he gave me a look that made me feel ashamed of myself. Stupid twin.

The banshee that had so graciously graced us with his birth was my twin brother, Xue Lei. He had inherited father's black hair and red eyes. Honestly, how can a baby make that much noise all the time? After I tried silencing him, mother made sure I was never alone in the same room as him. As if I would try something like that again. I could not disappoint father like that. I did not want him to hate me.

* * *

Before I knew it a whole year had passed. I had learned how to walk. Though I still needed practice. But it was really helpful when I wanted to get away from my brother. Which totally contradicts the whole, 'twins are joined by their soul and can never be separated.' Yes, I call bull on that. I hated my twin. He would never shut up! There would be times were I would start to get this weird feeling. Like I was forgetting something important. But every time I tried to remember or think about it, he would start crying. They should just throw him out a window.

And just when I thought things could not get worse…they did. Lei had learned how to stand.

His crying had also lessened, but only a little.

Every time I would stand up, so would he. Whenever I tried walking away, he would grab onto me and not let go. I never knew babies could be super strong. No matter what I did, he would not let go. I would take a step, and he would look at me for a whole minute, and then take a step. As much as I wanted to push him, I could not. For one, mother would kill me. He would also start crying again and there was no way I would allow father to look at me like he did when I apparently almost killed him.

Since I could not get rid of him, I started teaching him.

Our parents were very amused. I mean, who would not be? A toddler no more than a year old was teaching another toddler of the same age how to walk. It did not help that my vocabulary was limited. Very limited.

* * *

Another year had passed and we were now two years old. Lei had taken my help as permission to hang around me. Where ever I went, he would follow. Mother had separated us into different beds in fear that I would hurt him. Well not anymore. Lei could no longer sleep unless he slept with me. Whenever I refused, he would start crying. If he woke up and I was not there, he would start crying. Once, I had decided to go outside. Our family had a plum tree in the backyard and I was curious and wanted to see it upfront. He apparently thought I was running away for good and ran after me shrieking. He fell off our porch. It had gotten so bad that he would refuse to take a nap or go anywhere without me in fear that when he would wake up or return, I would no longer be there. When he did sleep, I had to be there with him. He would grab onto my arm with a strong grip so I could not escape while he slept.

I no longer hated Lei. He no longer cried like he used to. Well, as long as I was with him that is. Not to mention, how could I hate him when he would always come running to me smiling and out of breathe ready to tell me what he had accomplished. He had taken to calling me Meimei. Though he still got on my nerves once in a while.

Father and Mother had taken it upon themselves to separate Lei and me. He was not happy about it. It was made very apparent when he started crying. And to be honest, I too did not want to be separated. I had gotten so used to him following me around where ever I went, shouting "Meimei." But I know that his obsession would do us more harm than good in the future. Before I realized it, I was in front of him. He looked up at me, tears falling from his eyes. And boogers from his nose.

"Lei, stop crying." From the corner of my eyes I saw mother ready to bang her head into the wall. "I said stop crying." I repeated after he did not listen the first time.

"Meimei! I want to go with you!" before I could stop it, Lei flung himself onto me. He started crying harder.

I had no clue what to do. I had already learned that I was horrible with words. So what else can I do?

- _Sing_ -

I hugged Lei and started to gently stroke his back. I had no clue what got into me that day, but my brother was acting like I was about to get killed and I had to stop it. Plus I do not know how much longer our parent's patience can last. And I no longer wish to get rid of Lei. I started to hum. What I was humming, I had no clue. But after a few minutes it seemed to start working. Lei was no longer crying his eyes out. He was still holding onto me, but it was now a gentle grip.

"Lei, you do know you will still see me right?" Lei lifted his head to look at me. He sniffed a bit before looking at me with a questioning stare. "Mama and Baba are not going to make us live apart. We are just going to be training separately." He looked behind me towards father and mother as if asking for confirmation.

"That is right." Father walked up to us and took us both into his arms. "While you train with me, Li will train with mama. And when Li trains with me, you will with mama. One day with me and one day with mama. But you will still be living here with Li."

"I will still see Meimei?"

"Yes you will." Mother appeared behind him with a cloth and started to clean his face up. "Believe us, we wish for you two to be happy together. But you cannot always be together. You need to learn to walk on your own."

"Plus," I chipped in, "I will always be here waiting for you! And you can tell me all the amazing things you learned!" I started to pat his head. He seemed to cheer up at my prospect. "How does that sound?"

"Okay…only if you promise to not run away."

"I was not running away Lei. I just wanted to see our plum tree."

"…Okay…I will go."

Happy at his decision, I flung myself at him. He seems quite happy and hugged me back. Mother and Father just laughed, and before we knew it, we were in a big family group hug.


	2. Chapter 2

"Riri!" I turned to face the noise of pattering feet. I was embraced by an adorable cupcake with a tuft of brown hair.

About a year ago, mother gave birth to my younger brother, Xue Chonglin. He inherited everything from mother. Including her soft blue eyes. Which in all honesty, is not fair. Chonglin inherited his looks completely from mother and Lei from father. Me? The only thing that screams that I am indeed their child are my red eyes that I inherited from father. Sometimes I believe I was found. Not fair.

"What is it Linlin?" I picked him up and spun him around a few times. He was super adorable.

"Baba calls!" His laugh was adorable as well.

"Is that so? Well then, let us venture on!" I lifted him and spun him around once more as we headed over to father. His laugh was like a gracious melody of innocence.

* * *

Three years had passed since Lei and I have been training separately. Father trained us in weaponry. By now I knew how to use a dagger, sword and bow. Lei knew how to use all three and even a stick. Yeah, that is right. He once beat me in a match with only a stick. I had a dagger. I may or may not have ignored him for a whole week. Until he tackled me down a refused to get off until I forgave him. Cheeky idiot. He also made she we could fight without a weapon. He would always say that a men's, or women's, greatest weapon was their body.

Mother, believe it or not, was adept in magic. More accurately, magical weaponry. According to her, her ancestors had some magical weapons that have been passed down from generation to generation. But since Lei and I were too young to wield magical weapons, she trained us in a different way. Mother said that in order to conquer our weapons of mass destruction, we had to understand magic itself. So every time she would take me out to the outskirts of the village and had me hide from her. I had to use whatever the forest provided me with. She would tell me that whenever I had no clue what to do, to take a deep breathe, shut my eyes, and listen to my surroundings. The trees, the ground, and the wind all had a life of its own. Once I was able to understand and master that, I would be able to master my magical weapon.

It was at times like these that I would get a strange feeling. It started on my fifth week of playing hide and seek. I had been dangling from a tree branch for quite a while. I remember believing that mother had gone home already. She had done that once already. As the wind played with my hair, I got a strange feeling of emptiness. I felt like I was messing something. Something that was long lost to me. I knew I had not lost anything of importance at all. It then hit me. I stood as fast as I could and ran back home. As I thought, mother had left me behind. She was in the kitchen preparing supper. Father was seated at the table. They both turned to me as I barged in.

"Where is Lei?!" I looked around frantically, hoping that he was present and I just had not seen him yet. "Where is he?!"

"He is taking a bath." Father's voice felt like soothing melody as he spoke gently. "Is everything ok?"

I looked at him and then at mother. Concern was laced onto their faces. Relief washed over me as I realized that my whole family was safe. I had not lost anyone important. But then, I could not help but feel emptier. What had I lost? As I looked into father's eyes once more, I could not help myself any longer. I cried. I let my tears fall. I did not know why I cried. I did not know what I had lost. At least not in the moment. Before I knew it, mother had me wrapped in her arms as father whispered comforting words.

"Meimei?" Once I heard Lei's voice, I held unto him. I could feel his distress as he saw his own twin fall apart in front of him. I felt his arms wrap around me in a strong grip, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep in his arms.

A week had passed since then, and I had refused to speak about what happened that day. Mostly because I did not understand it at all. Training continued as normal. Anytime I would start to feel lost, I would stand up and just run. I ran from it all. Denial is truly a great weapon.

* * *

"Baba did you call?" I sat Chonglin in father's lap. Just like me, he liked being held by father. Lei was a momma's boy.

"Could you go into the village and get us some sprouts and cabbage for tonight's supper please?"

"Sure." Father nodded at me as he handed me money. I was out the door before Lei could find me and decide that he needed to tag along.

Lei had developed a sort of complex. He would not let me anywhere that could have boys at all by myself. If I was ever able to actually speak to a boy, Lei would have to not be present. He no longer cried when I was not there and he no longer slept in my bed. But he was still clingy and overprotective. He does not seem to understand that I was only five years old. I did not have time for silly romantic ideals. I remember I was mad at a boy once, so I had told Lei that he had proposed to me. I have not heard a boy scream in such a high pitch in my life. Lei, I found out, was someone who did not like to share at all. Chonglin is lucky that he is our adorable little brother.

But even that took some time.

When we found out that mother was pregnant, I was ecstatic. Lei, not so much. He figured that with our new baby brother, I would forget all about him. He would not leave me alone at all for a whole month. He would constantly ask me if I truly loved him. He is lucky I have so much patience.

Once Chonglin was actually born, it was chaotic. I could not stop fawning over the new baby. How could I not? He was adorable! Lei became super jealous. Remember when I tried stopping him from crying by smothering him with a pillow? He tried the same thing on Chonglin. Mother was not so happy to say the least. She would not stop staring at me for a whole week either.

It was not until three months had passed that Lei started warming up to Chonglin. Though it helped that I would threaten him with leaving if he did not try to get along with him. By the time half a year had passed, he was teaching Chonglin how to walk. Once more mother would always stare at me every time she caught them like that.

* * *

The village of Chido was a port town in the Kingdom of Huang. It was peaceful and always bustling with life. The people were always so nice.

"Li!" A squeaky voice grabbed my attention from a stall full of yarn dolls. The voice belonged to Shu-to. His father was a merchant from a kingdom across the sea. Kouka I believe it was called. Shu-to was only a year older than me.

"Shu? Is everything ok? You seem out of breath." He came to a stop in front of me and took a few gulps of air as he composed himself.

"Is Lei here?" When Lei first met Shu-to, he tried attacking him with a stick. Shu-to just laughed and dodged his every hit, angering my twin more in the process. Despite Lei's attempts of getting him away from me, Shu-to seemed to know when to find me on my own.

"No, not today."

"That's good. I was almost caught last time. He is a nice fellow, just a tad overprotective."

"Ya…a tad."

"Anyways, I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving."

"You are leaving?"

"Yup! Our month is up. So it is time for me to go home."

"I see…well you ever return once more?"

"Of course! This village is a perfect place to sell and trade. Plus I'd miss you and your crazy brother! How can I not come back?"

I could not help but laugh as he waved his arms up and down. He was always so lively. He was also not scared by my twin. He was the closest thing I had that I could call a friend.

"Are you going to say goodbye to Lei?"

"I am. Plus I wanted to see that adorable brother of yours once more before I left. I just wanted to see you first so that I could give you this." He took a book from his shoulder bag. "Here you go."

"What is it about?" I took the book and examined it, but all it had on its black cover was a red dragon with five other tiny dragons around it in different colors. White, blue, green, yellow and purple.

"It is a story about the founding of my kingdom."

"A story?"

"Yup, it is about the first king of Kouka and his five dragon warriors!"

"Dragon warriors?"

"Yup! Well I got to go!" He hugged me as I tried to not drop his gift. "Lets see each other again sometime!" And then he was gone.

'huh? Five dragon warriors?'

- _I'm not a dragon warrior._ -

I looked up to the sky as the wind danced around the village. I was starting to feel lost again. I took a deep breath and stored my new book into a satchel that I had and continued on my way. I had some ingredients to buy.


End file.
